Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay (commonly known as the Kubota Spears) is a Japanese

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team based in

Funabashi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populated city (after p ...

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

participating in the

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

. The team rebranded as Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay ahead of the rebranding of the Top League as the

in 2022.

Current squad

The Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay squad for the 2023 season is: * * denotes players qualified to play for the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on dual nationality or residency grounds.

Former players

Willie Ofahengaue Viliami Ofahengaue (born 3 May 1968 in Kolofoou, Tonga), widely known as Willie O, is a former rugby union player who earned 41 caps for the Australian Wallabies from 1990 to 1998, and played in the World Cups of 1991 and 1995 as well as the ...

Joe Roff Joe Roff (born 20 September 1975) is a retired Australian rugby union footballer and a product of the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club in Canberra, who played on the wing or at fullback for ACT Brumbies and Australia and played 5 tests as ...

- Fullback/Wing *

Barrie-Jon Mather Barrie-Jon Mather (born 15 January 1973) is an English former rugby league and rugby union player. A dual-code international player, he was the first Great Britain rugby league player to be capped by England at rugby union. He was the NSWRL's ...

- Centre/Wing * Marty Veale - Lock *

Kōtarō Nakamura was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and very briefly Army Minister in the 1930s. Biography Nakamura was a native of Ishikawa Prefecture. He was educated in military preparatory schools from early youth, and graduated from the 13th class ...

- Wing/Fullback *

Jason O'Halloran Jason David O'Halloran (born 28 February 1972 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand) is an All Black cap and rugby union coach. He is now the Assistant Coach at Suntory Sungoliath. He was the Assistant Coach of Glasgow Warriors. Before that he was an Assi ...

* Cameron Pither * Shunji Ishikura - Lock * Joshua Fuimaono *

Justin Sampson Justin "Sambo" Sampson (born 2 September 1966) is a sports television personality, professional speaker and former Australian rugby union player. Sampson has played representative rugby with New South Wales Country and North Harbour. He was ...

References

External links

Kubota Spears
- Official Website {{Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay squad Japan Rugby League One teams Rugby clubs established in 1978 Sports teams in Chiba Prefecture 1978 establishments in Japan